Locations near Portland, OR?

[boku]

[font color=\'#000000\']I haven't been there in years, but an hour's drive West will take you to the coast. There you will find an abundance of riches: Ecola State Park, Cannon Beach, Astoria. The drive through the Coastal Range is inspiring as well.

Don't miss the Columbia River Gorge area. This is even closer in to town.

Happy hunting.[/font]

[jdemott]

[font color=\'#000000\']The Columbia River Gorge is the closest area, so if time is at a premium, the gorge is your best bet.  From downtown Portland, you can be into the gorge, parked, and taking photos in less than an hour.  There is more than enough to see to keep you busy for a full day or more, particularly if you like to walk (and you really should plan on doing a little walking to really see the gorge area).  Go to a visitor center, Portland bookstore, etc., and get a book on hiking trails in the Columbia Gorge.  This will give you an idea of how many scenic waterfall areas, etc. there are.  Pick one or two and plan to walk back from the highway.

The coast is a little farther away (more than an hour realisitically, but less than two hours), but it is also quite beautiful.  Cannon Beach is the closest spot to Portland.  Haystack Rock and vicinity at sunset is a classic photo op.

In Portland, consider a walk along the waterfront on the East Bank Esplanade.  You can even make a loop of it and cross the river on one of the bridges and walk along the west side in Waterfront Park and then cross back.[/font]

[Sheldon N]

[font color=\'#000000\']Hi BK -

I'm a Portland local as well, and can second the advice given to you about the scenic opportunities in the Portland area. Like someone else mentioned, if you're short on time your best bet for photographic opportunity is the Columbia River Gorge, which lies just east of the Portland metro area.

Since the gorge is large, and so densely packed with waterfalls, the choices would be a bit overwhelming if you were to just drive there. Instead, I'll give you a specific trip/hike that I've found to have a good deal of photographic value, as well as not being overly packed with visitors (like Multnomah Falls is all summer long).

Take I-84 East out of Portland, past Gresham and Troutdale, until you get into the Gorge (about 1/2 hour from downtown). Resist the urge to take the Multnomah Falls exit (on your left) and keep driving. About 2 miles past Multnomah Falls is a the Historic Highway exit (it will have a reference to something about waterfalls), and then double back westbound parallel to I-84 just on the south side of the freeway. On the drive you'll see a couple visible falls, first is Horsetail Falls, immediately next to the road. Next is Oneonta Gorge, also very beautiful (and if you want, you can hike/wade upstream 1/2 mile all the way to the canyon's dead end where there's a nice little falls). Then you'll hit Multnomah Falls, which is absolutely beautiful (and about 500 feet tall), but is also extremely busy. Resist the urge to stop there, except maybe to have lunch in the restaurant, very nice but pricey.

The next falls to the west is called Wahkeena Falls, about 1/2 mile past Multnomah. It's probably the most striking of the roadside falls, and will be fairly busy (lots of photographers there, amerature and professional). Park there and shoot the lower portion of the falls until you're bored with it, then get ready to hike. Follow the path that starts uphill immediately to the west side (right side, if you're facing the falls) of the stream and little wooden bridge. You'll go uphill for about 1 mile, (~1000 vertical feet), and then the trail will break into a narrow gorge that parallels the stream. There's lots of gorgeous greenery and water along the way. After about a mile of this, you'll come to a couple small and photogenic falls, the nicer one of the two is called Fairy Falls.

After the hike back, (a lot easier downhill!) keep driving west on the historic highway. When the road forks, keep to the left and drive up to the top rim of the Gorge, past Crown Point (a nice tourist stop) and up to the top of the rim. Your goal should be to get to the outlook that is about 1 mile west of Crown Point, and slightly higher. As someone else mentioned, it's called the Women's Forum park (or something like that). It's a great location for a sunset shot looking at Crown Point and up the entire length of the Gorge (a very popular photo and a great way to end the day).

If all goes well and the light is right, you should go home with some very nice photos!

Enjoy!

Sheldon

[img]c:\Fairy Falls.jpg\" border=\"0\"]

Fairy Falls

[img]c:\Crown Point.jpg\" border=\"0\"]

View of Crown Point from the Womens Forum lookout[/font]

[boku]

[font color=\'#000000\']If I recall, there was also some interesting stuff in the Gango Gallery. (I haven't been there in at least 10 years.)[/font]

[bklimowski]

[font color=\'#000000\']I've found myself with a short trip to Portland, OR coming up, and would really like to take advantage of my free time to visit photogenic sites within an hour of the city.

I'd appreciate hearing from anyone familiar with the area -
I'm mostly interested in nature scenics, but enjoy the
urban scene as well. I'm not likely to find myself back in the
area anytime soon - so would like to take advantage of this
opportunity as much as possible!

Thanks all,

BK[/font]

[Graham Welland]

[font color=\'#000000\']As mentioned by BOKU you've got the coast, the Columbia River Gorge or you can also take advantage of the mountains - Hood & St. Helens and surrounding areas.

My recommendation for a day would be to take I84 out to the gorge and then follow the Historic Highway at Troutdale. This will encompass Crown Point (everyone gets shots here from the Women's Forum!), the highway which is pretty much quiet and a whole collection of waterfalls and forest/gorge shots along the way. You'll end up at Multnomah falls which can be spectacular if you've got the light (morning definitely better). Sunsets along the gorge are pretty neat too. If you've the time you might also carry on to Mosier and pick up the second half of the Historic Highway which includes more open vista and the famous Mosier Curves.

If you want mountains and vistas then you could travel up to Hood River and take Hwy 26 around Mt Hood. Trillium Lake and Lost Lake make for impressive reflections of the mountain. Lost Lake is better in the early morning, Trillium works for sunset. There are lot's of orchards on Hwy 26 from Hood River and a few flower meadows in the spring/early summer but you're a bit late for these.

Portland itself is great for urban stuff as it very photo-friendly.

If you need any phot help then pop into ProPhoto Supply - good pro quality store that'll also be able to give you some hints on places to go.

Hope this helps![/font]

[Russ Good]

[font color=\'#000000\']If you get a chance stop by the Photographic Image Gallery.  Christopher
Burkett had a show there last month and may still have some Cibachromes on display.  Would be well worth the effort.

Russ[/font]

[Graham Welland]

[font color=\'#000000\']

If you get a chance stop by the Photographic Image Gallery.  Christopher
Burkett had a show there last month and may still have some Cibachromes on display.  Would be well worth the effort.

Russ

The Photographic Image Gallery always has a reasonable stock of Burkett's on display/sale including most of his recent stuff. (I confess: They are my Burkett 'pushers' :-)) Similarly there will be William Neil's etc. Lot's of interesting stuff to look at for a couple of hours if you aren't careful.[/font]

[jdemott]

[font color=\'#000000\']I just came across a website, nwhiker.com, that may have some useful info for you.  There are brief descriptions, with photos, of many of the hikes in the Columbia River Gorge.  It looks like the website is selling some CDs with hiking info.  I have no idea whether the CD's are useful, but the on-line info would at least give you an idea of what is available.  There is also info about hiking in  other areas around Oregon and Washington.[/font]